The 2018 Freeride World Tour (FWT) stop at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C. delivered for spectators and competitors alike, as the first-ever event to take place at the legendary Canadian freeride destination was held in nearly picture-perfect conditions. Known for its technical lines, deep snow, and playful freeride-friendly terrain, Kicking Horse welcomed 47 riders in four categories for its inaugural competition and the only FWT stop on North American soil.

Competitors made their way to the 2504-metre summit, an alpine venue known as “Ozone,” where they launched into the 2018 season with spectacular lines. The residual fog burned off mid-morning and riders were treated to velvety Canadian powder all day long.

Eva Walkner (Austria - 1st Place) took an untouched line with huge and technical airs, impressing judges and spectators alike. Arianna Tricomi (Italy - 2nd Place) maintains her high level as she powered through the technical top part of the venue with speed and then perfectly executed a cliff zone at the bottom of the venue. Confident and solid riding put Kylie Sivell (Canada - 3rd Place), the only female Canadian skier at the competition, in third place.

”I wanted to go a bit bigger on top but still, I won so I'm super stoked, snow was amazing and that was super fun to ride!” says Eva Walkner.

Pent up energy lead to huge airs and incredible riding in the Ski Men category. The local favourite and rising star Logan Pehota (Canada - 1st Place) skied a phenomenal line starting off with a massive 360 into an enormous air off the nose of one of the biggest features of the venue, ending up with one of the highest scores in FWT history (98/100). Markus Eder (Italy - 2nd Place) threw a big and stylish 360 into a cleanly stomped cliff line lower in the venue. “Mad” Ivan Malakhov (Russia - 2nd Place) dropped in with his trademark fury, hitting all the features as big as possible with clean style.

It was an incredible start to the 2018 season! Watch a replay of the event above, and be sure to follow us today on the FWT social media channels and freerideworldtour.com for a second event taking place at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, in Golden, B.C. We’re taking advantage of the weather, in order to re-stage the Hakuba, Japan stop that was pushed back due to difficult weather and snow conditions.